


You Brought the Flames

by KtheG



Series: Two Celestial's and a Human [10]
Category: Warrior Nun (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Dark, F/F, Happy Ending, Multi, adriel lowkey gaslights ava, character death is temporary, dark!ava
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:28:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27015028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KtheG/pseuds/KtheG
Summary: They've all died and come back to life
Relationships: Sister Beatrice/Sister Lilith/Ava Silva
Series: Two Celestial's and a Human [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1872385
Comments: 6
Kudos: 30





	You Brought the Flames

**Author's Note:**

> this starts out really deep and heavy and dark, but it gets happy I promise!

Adriel had been taunting Ava for weeks now. He had been in her dreams, whispering to her during training, and it was driving her insane. Sleep wasn’t restful at all anymore, despite the fact that she was cuddled between her girlfriends. She had brought it up to Mother Superion, had consulted the book with Beatrice and Camila, had asked Lilith if she heard it, but nobody had any idea why Adriel was able to get into Ava’s head. It was frustrating to say the least, but she had been working on being able to get into his mind. There was always the risk that he would be able to find them through Ava, so she worked to be able to find Adriel through their unlikely bond.

It seemed to be working, Ava had picked up enough about his surroundings from the most recent night terror he sent her way, and so they planned for a quick mission to the Pyrenees. Ava and Lilith were the first to get there, teleporting together in order to scope out the situation before their human teammates would engage. Lilith placed a hand on Ava’s shoulder when she saw the smaller woman press a hand to her ears. The Tarask that resided in Lilith allowed her to block Adriel’s voice, but she knew how uncomfortable it was to share your head with something. She would never know what it was like to hear the Devil whisper to her her greatest fears, so she did her best to offer Ava support in that moment.

Adriel appeared in front of them out of the blue, shocking the two of them out of their stupor, and Ava immediately moved to attack him, divinium blade drawn. Her movements were fast, the training she had been doing for weeks finally paying off. She was able to catch him off guard, slicing his forearm. Lilith watched, trying to figure out how best to engage when she saw a sneer come across his face. Her concern wasn’t helped any by the fact that Ava stopped fighting him, instead seeming to appear smaller. Lilith chooses that moment to jump in, taking advantage of Adriel’s focus on Ava. She feels her claws come out, the only part of the Tarask that she allows unconsciously, and moves into Adriel’s space. He’s pretty good at multitasking, she’ll give him that, but Lilith has trained for years to fight evil, and she’s not going to put that training to waste here. They circle each other, Ava still off to the side, hands hovering over her ears, eyes unfocused.

That’s how Beatrice and the others find them. When Bea reaches out to Ava, her smaller girlfriend turns into her embrace. There are tear tracks on her face, and Beatrice knows that Adriel is in her head, probably showing her visions of things that are not true. Beatrice works to ground Ava, stroking her cheeks, using her voice to reach Ava who’s buried so deep in her mind. She’s aware of the fight going on around them, of Adriel taking on Mary and Lilith and Camila at once, but she’s more focused on Ava in front of her. When she looks up next, it’s to meet the growing numbers of possessed that seem to be coming up the road from one of the villages in the mountain pass. Beatrice gives Ava one last look, presses a kiss to her forehead, and dives into the battle. She knows that Ava is strong enough to fight of Adriel’s visions, but it’s also going to take some time, so she vows to protect Ava long enough.

Eventually, she hears movement from behind her, feels a hand on her back, pushing her out of the way of an oncoming possessed, and Beatrice knows Ava is back with them in this fight. She puts her energy into fighting off Adriel’s demons, and puts her concern for Ava in the back of her mind. Ava is at her back, working in a circle with Beatrice to disarm and knock out the humans. Gunshots start to ring out, and Beatrice grows worried. None of them are dressed for war, their divinium armor only a small piece of protection that covers the torso.

The battle rages on, the sounds of bullets being fired and fists hitting flesh rings in Lilith’s ears, but she can see the glow of the Halo off to her left, knows that Ava is alright. She can see Beatrice in her peripherals, wondering when they had managed to get separated but more focused on the Devil in front of her and the Tarask itching in the back of her mind. Control is wound so tightly in her head that she can barely feel Adriel’s attempts to break her. The constant barrage against her mental barriers worries Lilith, knowing that Ava is taking the brunt of these psychological attacks, but she trusts her girlfriend, trusts the Halo Bearer. The longer they fight, the more the worry in her gut grows. She knows Ava can fend off Adriel’s words and visions, but she’s lost track of time, doesn’t know how long Ava has been trying to fight two battles at once. When Ava joins her fighting Adriel, Lilith can see the sweat on her brow, the creased lips that let her know Ava is struggling. And it shows too. Ava’s movements aren’t as sharp, telegraphed more than normal, easily defended against. Lilith tries to keep her frustration in check, but it’s difficult to watch her girlfriend start to lose a fight.

They manage to contain Adriel, Lilith catching him with the divinium blade before he teleports away, and the sound of gunfire is lessening, her ears no longer ringing. When she looks around, she can spot Mary and Camila dealing with the last of the possessed, but Beatrice is nowhere to be found. Lilith hears Ava let out a grunt behind her, throwing the divinium blade at the spot where Adriel used to be before coming to Lilith’s side. “I can’t see Beatrice, Ava.” “I’m sure she’s fine, she’s the smartest fighter here.” They set out on the battle field, eyes searching for their girlfriend. Mary seems to find her first, waving frantically for them as she starts shedding her jacket. Lilith’s stomach sinks, she knows what that means. Beatrice has been hit and it’s bad. She grabs Ava’s hand and starts sprinting the distance, too tired to teleport, knowing the Halo isn’t charged enough for any last super powered burst.

When they get there, Beatrice has a hand pressed to her side, blood coating her fingers, breaths coming in shallow pants. Lilith and Ava drop to their knees, each resting a hand over Bea’s, hoping to keep the blood in her body, but Lilith knows it’s bad. There’s a splattering of white powder over the wound, and emergency coagulant they keep on hand, but the fact that it hasn’t worked lets Lilith know that this is possibly the last moments they’ll get with Beatrice. Ava’s crying, her body wracked with sobs, and Lilith doesn’t realize she’s crying until she feels Beatrice’s weak hand against her cheek. “Take care. Of her. For us.” Lilith promises, presses a kiss to Beatrice’s lips, pulls back and watches Ava kiss their girlfriend for the last time. “I love you two.” And Beatrice is gone.

Ava screams, her eyes looking around frantically, and she must find what she’s looking for, because she takes off. “You son of a bitch!” Adriel is still in Ava’s head, so he must be close by, and when Lilith turns, she sees him, just at the edge of the clearing they’ve been fighting in, and Ava’s got two steps on her, but Lilith has a long stride, and she’s got one arm wrapped around Ava’s waist, begging her to stay, to let the Halo charge and heal her. “I’ve already lost one of you, I can’t lose you too Ava,” but Lilith knows that Adriel’s taunts are ongoing, she can see the strain of them on Ava’s body, the glow of the Halo. Before she knows it, Ava’s looking up to the sky, turning and yelling “we’ve got to go, there’s too many!” and she’s stumbling towards Beatrice’s body. Lilith can sense the wraith’s can feel the enormity of their power, and so she slings an arm under Ava’s shoulders, the other under her knees and books it as fast as she can to their getaway car. Ava writhes in her arms, talks back to Adriel in her mind, but Lilith knows they can’t stop moving.

They barely make it out, Mary’s driving coming in clutch as they work their way down the mountainside. Ava’s crying in her arms, and Lilith is crying along with her. They’ve just lost the love of their life, but Lilith made Beatrice a promise and she intends to keep it. When they get back to Cat’s Cradle, Mother Superion is there to greet them, a somber look on her face and silent. No words of comfort for now, but she does move to take the burden of Ava from Lilith’s arms. Lilith refuses to fully let go of Ava, who had seemingly fallen asleep (possibly passed out) in the car. Together, they make it to their room, the one the three of them shared, and Mother Superion places a hand on Lilith’s shoulder. It’s practically a hug, and Lilith takes comfort in it. She knows what they signed up for, knows that this was a possibility from the beginning, but it doesn’t mean it hurts any less. “Take a couple weeks, gather yourselves. I don’t want to see you at training.” Mother’s words are gentle, and Lilith is grateful. She doesn’t think she could look any of her sisters in the eyes at the moment, let alone train with them.

She lays down next to Ava on their bed (their bed that was missing a person) and rests her head on Ava’s chest, feeling and hearing the strong beating of her heart. The heat of the Halo’s healing power almost burns against her cheek, but Lilith welcomes it, uses it to kickstart her own healing. Her mind loosens enough in the presence of the Halo for the Tarask to overcome her body little by little. Eventually, she falls asleep there, head on Ava’s chest, body healing.

They don’t move from that spot for what feels like an eternity, but when Lilith wakes, she can’t feel the aches of the battle, looks for the scratches on Ava’s face she had gotten fighting Adriel, and knows that they’ve been asleep long enough to be healed by the powers within them. She nudges Ava awake, whispers about a shower, and the two of them clean each other off efficiently, each quietly missing the presence of Beatrice. They emerge, clean bodies, cleansed of dirt, but with fresh tears on their faces. Dressing quickly, Ava and Lilith make their way out for breakfast, only to find it’s around four in the afternoon, so they settle for an early dinner, a cauliflower chili that warms their bodies but not their souls. Mother Superion finds them there, holding hands at the dinner table and tells them about the missing bodies. It wasn’t just Beatrice that they lost that day, the supporting squads had suffered a few casualties as well, but when Mother had sent the recovery team in, Beatrice’s body wasn’t with the rest of them.

Lilith is terrified for Beatrice, because she knows what that means, knows that Adriel plans on using Beatrice against them. She is terrified because she and Ava were resurrected with celestial power, but she worries that the power of the Devil will warp Beatrice. Ava, in one of the only sentences she says for weeks, berates Lilith for thinking that someone like Beatrice will be so easily influenced by the powers of the Devil. It’s the thought of Beatrice becoming something she’s not, the thought of the hurt that Beatrice is experiencing that drives Lilith. Lilith knows how the Tarask feels about Hell, knows the horrors of what goes on there, the horrors of that power, so she pushes herself to find Adriel. She pushes her pain aside, works on being there for Ava. Lilith knows how to get over her grief, has lost many sisters in her OCS career, has lost family members. Sure, her coping mechanisms might be extremely unhealthy, but it buys her some time to sort out a plan.

But it doesn’t seem to be working. Ava is ignoring her, won’t leave their room, barely talks to anybody at all. The only time Lilith sees Ava anymore is at night, when Lilith crawls into their bed and wraps her arms around Ava. She knows what Ava’s seeing, when they’re this close, they can sometimes share dreams. Lilith knows how hard this is for Ava, but she doesn’t know what Adriel has done to her. Most nights, when Ava wakes in a cold sweat, bolting upright, all Lilith can see is fire, feel the burn on her stomach over the scar where she was stabbed by the Tarask. The being in her body roars, her blood rushing in her ears. She knows Ava has it worse, having to witness whatever it is Adriel is taunting her with, but it burns Lilith all the same. Some nights, Lilith will catch Ava whispering to herself, seeming to walk herself through the events of that day, sometimes it’s the night of her own death. It makes Lilith’s heart ache, but she can’t bring herself to comfort Ava anymore. Ava who has rebuffed every offer of comfort for weeks now. Lilith is fed up. They’ve all died now, Ava’s not special.

Ava doesn’t tell Lilith about how the events of that night have become so twisted in her mind, she can’t remember what’s real and what Adriel has fabricated. She can’t remember if it was her fault that Beatrice is dead or the fault of the possessed. Ava can’t tell Lilith that she thinks she killed their girlfriend, that would absolutely destroy them, so she stays quiet, refuses the love Lilith is offering. She knows Lilith can see her dreams, but when Ava wakes at night, she feels alone, can’t feel Lilith’s presence beside her in bed. Eventually, she gives up on sleeping, only keeling over from exhaustion after a few days. Luckily, the Halo keeps her going for long enough, but Ava also knows how much of a burden she is to her sister’s now, knows that her grief is consuming Lilith’s life. It’s not fair to Lilith, so she starts planning.

They get into a row about a month after the incident, and it’s about Ava, how she’s not doing Beatrice any favors, and when Ava lets out a quiet, “she’s still alive?” Lilith realizes that Ava honest to God doesn’t know her up from down at this point. Adriel has twisted her mind so far that Ava can’t trust anything but what she sees in front of her, and what she’s seeing is her girlfriend yelling at her over not sleeping or eating. Lilith closes her mouth with a click, watches Ava walk away from her, feels frozen in place. Ava’s stuff is gone from their bedroom when Lilith finally makes her way back there. Her backpack is gone, but she’s left her sweatshirt behind, the one that Lilith and Beatrice liked to share because Ava picked it out because it’s too big for her. There’s a picture of the three of them missing from a frame, and Lilith knows it’s the picture of them holding each other on the training mat after a good sparring session.

She doesn't hear from Ava for weeks, just floating through the days, focused on finding Adriel. When she goes to the library one day, she realizes that there are pages missing from some of the books they need. Pages that probably contain information on how to track Adriel. She knows, instinctually, that it's Ava who took the pages. So Lilith and the team bumble along without all the information, work twice as hard at using their contacts and tracking demon possessions to the best of their abilities, but they can only do so much without the halo bearer; a few months into their search, good news comes. They've managed to figure out a pattern of possessed, and they are able to predict where Adriel will be next. They plan, they leave, and they get there in the middle of a battle.

When they get there, it's nothing like Lilith is prepared for. Ava's there, Adriel is there, and so is, Beatrice. Beatrice, who is supposed to be dead. Beatrice who doesn't seem to recognize Ava when she calls out for her. Ava, who's lost so much weight, doesn't fit her clothes properly, who looks tired and _defeated._ Ava, who is struggling to fight her way to Beatrice. Lilith knows there's a silent conversation happening, can feel the pressure in her skull of Adriel trying to get into her thoughts. She looks to Beatrice, doesn't see any change on her face, but she can hear Ava "take me, take me instead, leave Beatrice, _please_!" And Lilith hears Adriel’s cackle in the distance. Knows that he's got exactly what he wants.

Beatrice, who had been motionless before, reaches out for Ava, her eyes seeming to clear just a little bit. She grabs Ava's wrist, looks to be begging Ava not to go, but Lilith can't hear the exact words. Ava just places a kiss on Beatrice's lips, and Lilith wishes she could be there with them, but she can only watch on the other side of a possessed wall as Ava throws Beatrice behind her. Beatrice stumbles, and the possessed part for her like she is Moses. Mary runs up, gathers Beatrice in her arms, and Lilith teleports to Ava, using the strength of her love for the other woman to tether them together. Lilith gets there, wraps her arms around Ava's waist, begs her to stay with them, to not go with Adriel. Lilith is afraid to think what Ava turning herself over means, but she can't dwell on it too long before Ava has headbutted her. The action doesn't hurt so much as shock her into releasing Ava's waist. Ava turns, and with power that Lilith hadn't seen in a long time sends a blast out, knocking Lilith off her feet. By the time she regains her footing, Adriel and Ava are gone, and Lilith breaks. She couldn't handle it when Beatrice was gone, but thinking Beatrice was dead was better than knowing that her girlfriend was in the hands of a devil.

The next time they meet on the battlefield isn't too long after, but by the look in Ava's haunted eyes, you'd think it had been eternity. She looked lost, scared, but she tried to mask it with confidence. It was just Lilith and Ava, Mary and Camila were handling the possessed while Beatrice had been relegated to supporting from cat's cradle. Ava's movements were robotic, not filled with her usual spark, and Lilith was devastated. The only way Ava would ever move like this was if she was being controlled. And when Ava opened her mouth, Lilith’s worst fears were confirmed. The words Ava was saying cut deep, she knew just where to cut to make Lilith bleed, and every slice of her verbal blade wounded Lilith to the point of tears. It had been a long time since Lilith let herself be taken apart by simple words, yet she crumbled to her knees hearing such vitriol come from Ava's lips.

Her mental walls weakened enough for Adriel to break into her mind, whispering sinister words of how Ava was under his control, how Lilith would either have to kill Ava or be killed. Lilith refuses to fight. She’d rather die than fight against this Ava. This Ava who is a shell of her former being. She couldn't fight Ava, just like she couldn't fight any of her other sisters. Ava advanced, blow after blow, wearing at Lilith's stamina. Eventually, the power of the halo became too much for Lilith, and she knew if she didn't fight back, she would die at Ava's hands. She brought her hands up, one grasping a divinium blade, the other in a loose fist, and she fought back. Their dance was intricate, just like when they sparred, but Lilith couldn't help but feel Beatrice's absence starkly.

She swiped with her blade, not being serious about harming Ava, just hoping to shock the other woman out of her state, but Ava was faster. Every time Lilith moved, she locked eyes with Lilith, and the hardest part was seeing no love in Ava’s eyes. Ava didn't even seem to know who she was fighting, but she was brutal nonetheless. Her movements were precise, and she managed to stab Lilith, right where she had been ferried to the other world by the Tarask. Lilith doubled over, the pain so raw and searing, felt a hand wrap around her throat, and brought her eyes up to look at Ava, hoping to catch a glimpse of the woman she loved

Ava just squeezed her fingers tighter, and Lilith could feel herself letting go. She didn't want to live in a world where she didn't have either of her girls, and that's what happened. As she felt her body giving up, images of the last few months flashed across her mind. Beatrice refused to touch her, refused to be alone with Lilith, and Lilith's heart broke every day, watching Beatrice wander the halls of Cat's Cradle, sit next to Mary and Camila at meals. They didn't share a room, let alone a bed, anymore, and Lilith had taken to curling up in Ava's sweatshirt by herself, pulling out the small bottle of perfume that Beatrice wore before she died. Because they had all died now and that wasn't something that would ever be left behind. Lilith knew she and Ava had been brought back by good, but Beatrice hadn't been so lucky. Beatrice was brought back to life by perverse ways, ways that no man or woman should ever experience

Lilith could see the scar of the bullet that killed her whenever Beatrice's top rode up, but she could also catch a glimpse of something more sinister. Lilith and Ava had their celestial marks, but Beatrice had something worse. But as Lilith thought back on her life with Ava's hands around her throat, she realized that she wouldn't change a thing. Her life, her death, and her resurrection had brought her Ava and Beatrice, and that's not something she would give up so easily, so she gave into that part of herself that itched for control every day.

She let her mind fall away to be replaced by something else, felt as her body changed. Even as she threw Ava across the courtyard they were fighting in, Lilith could see no recognition in Ava's eyes, and that broke her heart. But it seemed Ava was still willing to fight Lilith, as the halo burned under her skin, and Lilith watched from outside her body as Ava and the Tarask that lived within her duked it out. Adriel had gone from smirking to terrified the minute Lilith let go, and she knew this would be a battle her side would win, but at what cost?

When she came back to herself, in her own body, in her own mind, she could hear Beatrice's voice in her ear, could feel Mary's hands on her face. She opened her eyes, attempted to speak, but found she had no energy. Mary hoisted her over her shoulder, and Lilith couldn't even beg that they bring Ava's body back. Because that's what Ava was. Another limp body lying on the stone next to her. It seemed Camila could read her thoughts, as she saw the shorter woman scoop up Ava. The trip to Cat's Cradle was a blur, Lilith's pretty sure she passed out the minute her head relaxed onto Mary's shoulder. She woke up in the infirmary, Beatrice and Mary by her side. Mary left the minute Lilith seemed to be in control, leaving Lilith and Beatrice to mourn together for their lost lives.

They cried together, just like Lilith and Ava had when they had first lost Beatrice, but this time was different. Lilith could feel connected to Beatrice, but she could also feel the connection to the halo that had Ava's signature. Turning to her left, she looked over, and lo and behold, there was Ava. Unconscious, wrists cuffed to the bed, heart monitor letting Lilith know she was still alive. Ava, who would never trust herself ever again, and Lilith wasn’t sure she could trust Ava either at this moment. Beatrice’s voice rang out beside her, "it's going to be a long road, Lilith, but I think if we stick together we can recover."

**

Lilith and Beatrice and Ava are in the training room, _months_ if not a year or so later, finally able to stand against each other, on opposite sides of the mat.

Ava's got her hands up, they're shaking slightly from anxiety (she remembers so clearly the way her hands wrapped around Lilith's throat) and Beatrice is standing across from her, so much trust on her face as she squares up against Ava.

Lilith is behind Ava, hands on her hips, can still feel the jut of the bones under her fingers as she leads Ava through the form. (Lilith’s mind flashes back to meal times, struggling with Beatrice to get Ava to eat, practically begging her to put nutrients in her body, to not rely on the Halo for basic functions.)

It had been so hard for them in the beginning, all of them afraid to touch each other, but the connection of death sung between them, making it almost impossible for them to be without the other.

The first time any of them had tried to get back into the ring had been a disaster. Ava had been itching to spar with someone who wasn't Beta team for so long, so Lilith had dragged her to the training room after dinner one night, and they had both ended up on the floor, breathing ragged as images flashed before their eyes. Ava saw herself from Lilith's perspective, while Lilith looked down upon herself

it was scary enough that Ava had sent out a mini halo burst, and Beatrice had come running, but she was too afraid to touch the other girls, still felt the traces of hell on her hands, and so she had stood frozen until Mary showed up and could calm everybody down.

But now, they could share a space for a little bit, couldn't be too long, but Ava would take what she could get. She could feel the love between the three of them, knew they were working towards something great


End file.
